Middleton ceawfobd



(No Model.)

M. CRAWFORD. BOILER FEED REGULATOR.

Patented Jan. 19, 1886 Inveze2or.

N. PETERS, Fhommho m her. Washingtnn. D. C,

llNrTnD STATES PATENT Orrroa.

MIDDLETON CRAWFORD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BOILER-FEED REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,691, dated January 19,1886.

Application filed May 9, 1895.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MIDDLETON CRAWFORD, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, and residing in the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State or" New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam Boiler Feed Regulators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to devices for automatically feeding water to steam-boilers; and the novelty consists in the construction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The essential object of the invention is to utilize the ordinary conditions of a steamgenerator to operate a feed valve or pump, so that when the water in the generator reaches a certain low level the steam of the generator will automatically set into operation a train of devices to inject more water into the boiler, and that when the water has attained a proper level in the boiler the said water will operate said devices to cut off further supply.

Variousther'mostatic appliances have been devised for analogous purposes, and in steamtraps it is old to operate a valve upon thermostatic principles.

The present invention seeks to simplify the principle as applied to steam-boilers. It embodies a device which is simple in operation, not liable to get out of order, and which is efficient in service.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a central section; Fig. 2, a detail perspective of the valve; and Fig. 3, a diagram, on a smaller scale, showing the relation of the novel parts to a boiler.

For purposes of this description it is not necessary to show any particular means for supplying feed-water to the boiler, and it Serial No. 164,746.

(No model.)

will be understood that any proper and approved contrivancc for this purpose may be employed.

Referring to the drawings, A designates an ordinary steam-boiler. It has a steam-pipe, A and a water-pipe, A, as shown, the purposes of which will presently appear, the former being arranged above and the latter below a desired water-level.

F designates a supportingframe, which may be suspended from a wall or otherwise supported so that it will at all times maintain a proper relation to the generator A and its high-water level a.

B and O designate steam chambers, which may be made of a single casting, and they are connected by a hollow neck, b, at the upper portion of which is formed a valve-seat, b. The upper part of the chamber 13 has a suitable stuffing-box and receives the end of the steam-pipe A*, while the chamber 0 has a stuffing-box at its lower portion which receives the water-pipe A.

D designates a valve having a central cavity corresponding to the interior of the tube A,

and it operates in connection with the seat b.

It is carried on the upper end of the pipe A, and its stem, which comprises a considerable portion of the pipe A within the chamber O, is of brass or other metal which has marked expansive and contractile qualities,

sensitive to changes in high temperatures. A properly-packed cylinder, O, connects with the chamber 0, and a piston-head, a, carried on a rod having a rack, 0 is arranged within the cylinder, so as to be forced outward therein by steam-pressure in the chamber O, a spring, 0, serving to hold the piston against such pressure with a constant force. The rack bar 0 projects beyond the cylinder and engages a pinion, O", which by any suitable connections is adapted to operate a steam pump or valve, or other water-feeding device. (Not shown.) The valve-stem has longitudinal external grooves, d, which extend for about the length of the neck I), and they serve as steamways when the valve is off its seat.

The devices thus far described are uncomplicated, inexpensive, and may be applied to boilers now in use. They operate automatically to keep the water in the boiler at a uniform level and allow but a limited fluctuation from a predetermined water-level.

The operation will be obvious. The frame F and its supported devices B G having been arranged so that the valve D will be approximately on a level with a proper water line, (see a, Fig. 3,) the steam-pressure in the chamber B and the contraction of the valve-stem, by reason of its being held in the water of the boiler, holds the valve D tightly to its seat. In this condition there is high pressure in the chamber B and low pressure in the chamber C, and the spring 0 is exercising its force to close and hold closed the feed-water devices. (Not shown.) As the water lowers in the boiler, it correspondingly falls in the pipe A and in the valve portion thereof, allowing the steam from the chamber B to enter the intcrior of the valve-stem and by its heat to expand the same to raise the valve D from its seat I). This action admits steam around the valve head and through the recesses (Z, which steam.cntering the chamber l5,l'orces back the piston C, and, consequently, through the rackbar 0', revolves the pinion C to project more waterinto the boiler by operating the feedvalve or other device. (Not shown.) The water entering the boiler raises the level in the valve-stem, which, contracting by reason thereof, forces the valve 1) back to its seat. The pressure reduces in the chamber C. The spring 0 forces the piston inward toward the chamber 0, and at the same time the pinion (1, by its proper connections, shuts off the water supply. By this arrangement but very little fluctuation is allowed in the water-level, and the cooling of the boiler by large injections is avoided.

I attach importance to the arrangement of the two chambers B C in their described relation to each other and to the thermostatic valve and feed-watercontrolling piston.

It will be noticed that the inclined position of the thermostatic coutrivance in its relation to the boiler serves a function in allowing a limited deviation of the water in the boiler to affect a multiplied surface in the valve-tube A. This, in increasing the sensitiveness of the valve, is important in this invention, as a small rise of water in the boiler will affect a large lineal surface in the pipe.

\Vater of condensation may be trapped out of chamberC by any known and welt-approved means.

I am aware that in trapping out water of condensation a thermostatic tube has been before used.

XVhat is claimed as new is 1. The combination, with a steam -boiler and feed-water connections, of a valve having a tubular thermostatic stem arranged upon the plane of the desired water-level, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with a boiler and feedwatcr connections, of a valve arranged with a tubular thermostatic stem upon the approximate plane of the desired water-level, and steam and water connections whereby the ex pansion of said stem by reason of contact of steam will open the valve to operate the feed devices, and the contraction of said stem by reason of contact of water will close the valve and allow the feed to be out off, as set forth.

3. In combination with a steam-boiler and feed water connections of two connected steamcliambers, a thermostatic valve arranged in the upper chamber and extending through the lower chamber, and a piston connected with the lower chamber, arranged to operate the feed-water connections to inject water into the boiler when the said valve is off its seat in the upper chamber, as set forth.

4. In a stcamboiler regulator, substantially as described, the combination, with the boiler, chambers, as B C, and pipe-connections, of a valve having a tubular theremostatic stem, 1), arranged upon an incline with the boiler, as and for the purposes specified.

In a steamboiler appliance. as described, the chambers 13 C and neck I), having valveseat I), a steam-pipe connecting the upper chamber with the steam above the water-level, and a water-pipe extending from the interior of the boiler below the water-level through the chamber 0, and carrying a valve having a hollow stem of expansive metal, all com bined and operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. In an automatic boiler-regulator, substantially as described, the valve-scat b, arranged on a line with the desired water-level in the boiler, a hollow thermostatic valve, as D, a steam chamber to receive steam when the water lowers and the valve is lifted, and a piston operated by such steam to open the feed-water devices, as set forth.

7. The casting B O b b, as described, combined with the boiler, the pipes A A", the valve D, the piston, and feedwvater connections G, all arranged and operating as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MIDDLETON CRAXVFORD.

\Vitnesses:

Wu. H. SLOAN, E. F. WILLIAMs.

ill 

